Chapter 005: Hungry Hunger

In the darkness, her voice carried a cold undertone.

As if caught off guard by the early spring rain, Bixu suddenly shivered. She felt that Fifth Miss seemed somewhat different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She just felt that Fifth Miss was not as easy to deal with as before.

After some thought, Bixu looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes and carefully replied, "I heard that not only the maids in the garden saw it, but also the maids around Fourth Miss and Sixth Miss saw it."

Taiwei chuckled lightly, "Is that so? Anyone else?"

Bixu's voice lowered, "I only heard about it. I don't know any more details."

Taiwei lay on the bed, lowered her eyelids upon hearing this, and suppressed her smile without speaking again.

It had been a long time since she had seen Bixu.

But she still remembered Bixu's temperament to some extent. So, the three words "don't know" in Bixu's words, how much did she know and how much did she not know... Upon careful consideration, it was quite interesting.

Taiwei half-closed her eyes, as if she might fall asleep at any moment, and remained silent for a long time.

As time passed and the sky grew darker, Bixu began to feel tired, and her breathing gradually became steady. Taiwei heard the movement and knew that she had fallen asleep, but she didn't wake her up, just slowly sat up from the bed, lifted the blanket, and walked barefoot to the right side of the room.

There was no light in the room, and the light was dim, and it was pitch black everywhere. However, Taiwei walked barefoot through the room, easily avoiding the obstacles in front of her.

After leaving home years ago, she had never lived in this room again, so she thought she had probably forgotten everything. But now that she was back, she found that everything was still the same as she remembered.

Almost as if it were yesterday, without the slightest difference.

She even remembered clearly that there was a long table under the wall to the right of the bedroom. The black lacquered surface was cool and smooth to the touch, and there were always several plates on top.

The plates were filled with fruits and pastries, some good and some bad, but the portions were always generous. Although they were not replaced daily, she always got a little less than the others.

But who asked her to be poor?

Everyone knew that she didn't have much money, and the monthly allowance was not enough for tips. Who would be willing to flatter her in front of her? If they had the time, they could flatter anyone else.

In the mansion, there was not only Taiwei.

There were plenty of other young ladies who were more favored, richer, and easier to please than her.

Taiwei finally found the edge of the black lacquered table and stopped, bending down and reaching out to the table. As she touched it, she felt a plate.

Since there was no light in the room, she couldn't tell what was in the plate.

Taiwei had to continue to feel around with her hand.

Her slender fingers reached over the edge of the plate and into it, and soon she found two pieces of pastry. But the pastry was cold, and she didn't know what kind of pastry it was.

But when you're hungry, you eat what you have. There was no point in being picky.

Taiwei grabbed it and stuffed it into her mouth, thinking that it wouldn't kill her. But unexpectedly, the pastry was dry, and she choked on it.

She had to find some water.

The tea was also cold, with a winter-like chill on this late spring night.

Taiwei had to drink two cups before she felt some relief in her throat. The annoying thirst finally subsided.

After eating another pot of tea, Taiwei quietly returned to bed, only to find that there was still some lingering warmth in the bed.

It seemed that she hadn't spent much time away.

She enjoyed this warmth and suddenly remembered that she had to go and pay her respects to her grandmother early the next morning, which gave her a headache.

Her grandmother was strict, and she couldn't skip the morning and evening rituals. She couldn't escape from her grandmother's watchful eye.

Thinking of her grandmother's face made Taiwei feel nauseous, but she forced herself to turn over and go to sleep.

Little did she know that after falling asleep, nightmares would come crashing down like a huge wave. She felt like a lone boat struggling in the midst of a thousand waves, unable to break free. Suddenly, there was a commotion in her ears, as if someone was calling her:

"Miss—Miss, wake up—"

She woke up from the nightmare drenched in cold sweat, with a bitter taste in her mouth, and rapid breathing, and saw the light blue canopy.

The surroundings were messy, and the sky was gradually getting brighter.

Bixu poked her head in from outside the canopy, "Miss, you're finally awake!"

Taiwei lay still, staring at the top of the canopy, and said softly, "From now on, wake me up half an hour earlier every day."

Bixu's face changed slightly. Half an hour earlier, it wasn't even light out yet.

If the mistress wanted to get up early, then as a maid, she naturally had to get up even earlier.

Bixu was somewhat reluctant, but after the unexpected incident last night, she didn't dare to speak as much as she used to. She just replied, "Yes," and hung the canopy she had lifted onto the copper hook on the bedpost, "It's time for you to get up, Miss."

Although it was still early, the location of the Xiangyuan was remote, and it would take quite some time to walk to the Minghetang of the old lady. Time was of the essence.

Taiwei was well aware of this and began to tidy herself up.

The pain from the injury on her back still throbbed, but after applying the medicine, she felt much better than yesterday.

After a while, Bizhu brought her clothes, a moon-white spring shirt with dark flower patterns of magnolia, paired with a woven golden skirt.

Bizhu had always had a good eye for clothes.

Taiwei, lost in thought, carefully examined the clothes in Bizhu's hands and absentmindedly instructed, "Go and find out what colors Second Sister and Fourth Sister are wearing today."

Bizhu was taken aback.

This had never happened before.

Taiwei said, "Find a clever little maid to inquire, don't go yourself."

Bizhu was stunned and instinctively asked, "Why?"

Taiwei was drawing her eyebrows in the mirror, creating delicate and light smoke-like eyebrows, adding a touch of fragility to her face. After finishing one, she turned to Bizhu and said calmly, "You are the head maid of the Xiangyuan, it would be too conspicuous for you to go out. Everyone knows you, and everyone will know that you are inquiring about something."

As Bizhu listened to her, her gaze involuntarily fell on her eyebrows.

She had never seen such eyebrows before.

She had never drawn them for her mistress, nor had she seen her mistress draw them herself.

In all these years, this was the first time Fifth Miss had done her own makeup.

She never expected her to have such skill.

Bizhu couldn't help but stare in amazement.